Thursday, December 11, 2008

Normal, Anti-Normal, and Trans-Normal (1.04.12)

There seems to have been a bit of confusion yesterday in at least one reader, who compares our approach to that of the psycho-cultural left, but there is really no similarity. The whole point of my thesis (or Bollas's thesis) is that the normotic is not normal; rather, he has a pseudo-normality that conceals and oppresses a true self which has been developmentally stunted somewhere along the way. As the reader sarcaustically put it, "Normality is oppression! Be a non-conformist! Free your authentic self from the constraints of bourgeois morality!"

Please. This is not my point. Rather, I am coming at it from a conservative classical liberal point of view, in which (to paraphrase someone), individuality is freedom lived. But one might just as well say that freedom is individuality lived. It should go without saying that you are only truly free when you are yourself. Otherwise, who is free? And for what?

Actually, I prefer "liberty," which is perhaps the second most important Raccoon macro-value after truth (in fact, you cannot have one without the other, for one must be free to discover truth, and truth is what sets one free; this is why the compulsory truth of political correctness, or of reductionistic Darwinism, is an intrinsic contradiction).

You might say that Truth + Liberty = Authentic Being. Being that the left denies absolute or transcendental truth, you can see that we have nothing in common. And being that they believe in positive liberties granted by the state instead of negative ones conferred by the Creator, there is again no common measure between us. The leftist substitutes for timeless truth the petty dictates of time-bound political correctness, which strangles the self and nourishes the hardened collective ego.

I could go on, but you get the point. Belief in permanent truths results in the ordered liberty, or "disciplined mischief," of the Raccoon. To deny them results in mere horizontal license, and in a system that cannot be sustained. To the extent that these people appear "unconventional," it is in an entirely conventional and drearily conformist manner (the "herd of independent minds"). There is nothing creative about a Madonna. She can only engage in a kind of parasitic "anti-normotic" illness that mimics actual creativity and true selfhood.

It is the same with many homosexual disturbances, which may superficially seem so "out there" but are really just a form of psychic slave rebellion. As Bollas writes, "the homosexual's adornment in exaggerated representations of the subjective element can be a defiance of the normotic way of life. Where the normotic parent may have stressed 'reasonable' thinking, the homosexual may espouse the superiority of anti-reason. Where the normotic parent never tolerated the controversial, the homosexual may become perversely addicted to collecting controversies."

Bollas adds that compulsive sexual promiscuity among homosexuals "has the character of a material phenomenon, and is in part an inverted representation of the normotic illness." Honest and self-aware homosexuals will know exactly what Bollas is referring to. The rest will feel victimized, which is to take a secret pleasure in participating in one's own self-subjection. It is also abnormal, so you can't win.

It seems that this topic of normotic illness struck a resonant chord in many readers, which surprises me, since I was just riffing off the top of my head as a prelude to moving on to the last arcanum, The World. We'll get to that later, but I think you'll see that the two themes tie together, because the point of that card is to meditate on the idea of the world as a work of art, and the real artist is an example of "freedom lived," or of potential actualized, at least in the aesthetic sphere.

For example, in a banalogy I have used before, I am "free" to play the saxophone, but not in any meaningful way, unless I undergo the years of discipline it takes to transcend "mere freedom" and transform it into something higher. Although, say, Hank Mobley, was much more constrained than I am when he picked up a sax, those musical constraints -- or boundary conditions -- are precisely analogous to the intrinsic truths that allow the self to ascend to its proper soul station.

Just so, to deny the intrinsic spiritual truths that in-form the soul is like trying to play the sax without harmony, melody, chords, etc. But conversely, to only conform to these moral truths in a rigid, exterior way, without realizing and assimilating their inner meaning, can result in a superficially good and decent person, but still, something will be missing. That something is the true self. And for the true self, truth, virtue, and beauty are consciousness of a plane of reality, not conformity to a rigid exterior model. I don't just want my son to "be good." Rather, I want him to understand goodness. Nor do I want him to merely obtain good grades without being intelligent.

So we see right away that our essentialist idea of a true self parts ways with the existentialists in all their variety, who believe that the self is entirely self-made, so to speak. First of all, the true self cannot possibly be self-made -- any more than you could make your liver or kidneys. It is an organ, except that it is a multi-dimensional organ that transcends space and time, at least to a certain extent. But the fact that the self may know timeless truth proves that its ultimate source is outside time.

Like all other organs, the self requires time in order to reach maturity. But the function of the self is much more complex compared to, say, the kidneys, which mostly filter blood. The self, on the other hand, has the ongoing task of metabolizing and synthesizing internal, external, past, present, and transpersonal experience into a higher subjective unity. This is why you might say that the self is man's first "hyperdimensional virtual organ," so to speak. It is just as busy as the heart or lungs, except that it accomplishes its feats in a higher space that obviously exceeds three or four dimensions (cf. the phenomenon of dreaming).

In turn, this is why the normotic personality may appear outwardly normal, even while living a life in which he systematically denies the sufficient reason for man's existence. From the human standpoint, it can never be "normal" to be a radical atheist or leftist, for both of these categories prevent man from discovering transcendent truth and becoming what he is -- from actualizing his real nonlocal potential.

Yesterday I mentioned the "destiny drive," which is to the self as final cause is to biology. Biology is incoherent in the absence of final causation, in that each organ obviously has a function to fulfill within the context of the whole, and failure to achieve this function is the very definition of pathology. In other words, we can only know about sickness because there is a thing called "health" (which with good reason is etymologically related to wholeness). For example, I have a diseased pancreas, because it doesn't spit out insulin in the way it was designed to.

But what was the Self designed to do? If you are a Darwinist, it is a moot question, because the self reduces to biology, which in turn reduces to physics, which has no purpose. This down-and-backward looking metaphysic hurls the self against the dead rocks of the cosmic past, so it can actualize no intrinsically real future, i.e., destiny.

Let's talk about the self's destiny drive, and define it with more precision. Tomorrow.

This is a fascinating topic, Bob. I have some thoughts of my own, but they are very... big. It would be hard to put them in a comment. A shorter version reads:

Conceptual 'normality' ~= denial of the fallen state.

That is, the idea that we CAN be 'well adjusted' i.e. not subject to any radical mood swings in this vale of tears is misguided. There is a process by which each of the passions can be sublimated to serve the purpose of God, but said process is not designed to end in the removal of all symptoms of abnormality. As long as the world and its inhabitants are abnormal, such things must needs arise.

Speaking of Destiny Drive: While Spore is considered an 'anti-Christian' game or an evolutionary game, it certainly really is neither. Firstly, the language used is not 'organism', but 'creature'. They in fact go so far as to use the word 'creation' in reference to it. Secondly, from the very beginning - when an asteroid is hurtling through space to the planet you chose to start on (the origin of life is other life in this game, still maintaining an essentialist backbone) there is a sense of 'destiny', albeit in this case the destiny to rule the galaxy.

My theory is that, in order to be a compelling game, it had to yield itself at some level to the Logos. There is pretty much no escape.

The lights are on, but you're not home Your self-regard is all you own Your heart pumps, your body dies You can't believe 'cept with your eyes You soul sleeps, while you yap There's no doubt you need a slap Your throat is tight, you can't breathe Another smack! is all you need You like to think that you're immune to the stuff Oh yeah It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough You know you're gonna have to face itYou're addicted to Bob.

You see the signs - but you can't readYou're running at a different speedYour heart beats in double timeAnd still you miss eternal rhymeA one-track mind; you can't be savedMore abuse is all you craveThe yawning gap there in your faceEvolution can't eraseChorus:Might as well face it: you're addicted to Bob

The light are on, but you're not homeYour feathered brain is all you ownYour dullard axe is all you grindJust learn to fly and you'll be fine.Chorus:Might as well face it you're addicted to BobMight as well face it you just can't shut your gobMight as well face it you're addicted to BobYou're DNA just tells you that you're in the wrong jobMight as well face it you're addicted to Bob...

"So we see right away that our essentialist idea of a true self parts ways with the existentialists in all their variety, who believe that the self is entirely self-made, so to speak. First of all, the true self cannot possibly be self-made -- any more than you could make your liver or kidneys. It is an organ, except that it is a multi-dimensional organ that transcends space and time, at least to a certain extent...."

"Entirely" is the key word there I think, 'self sculpted' is probably better than self made. Michelangelo I think said something to the effect that the "sculpture called out to him from the stone, and he only helped to 'realize its destiny'", which is what we all do. Your destiny may be there, but whether the final product seems to have been created by picasso or Michelangelo, is up to whether or not you realize that you are "... "free" to play the saxophone, but not in any meaningful way, unless I undergo the years of discipline it takes to transcend "mere freedom" and transform it into something higher."Either way... the Marble may be shaped by the Sculptor, but it isn't created by the him.

Ray said “Van - Perhaps you could put the point I was aiming for, however misguided it might be, in your own words?"

(Lol! Ray-Bingo! I knew you were going to ask me that! No… no special powers involved, at least not beyond the obvious)

The point you were aiming for? I dunno, I'm not blind enough to see. However as far as the flaws in your attempt, you might want to start with noting the fact that neither Iron filings nor magnetic fields are alive. They are both manifestations of actual physical material, or the properties of physical material, and to the extent that we understand them, there is no point where one loses sight of their connection within physical reality, filings or magnetic field.

You could have as easily missed the point by saying, though it would lack your materialistic complexity fetish, that because sand is blown into patterns by the wind, that proves or disproves anything about truth, time, life or timelessness.

It is the fact that we are able to know something, not receive an electronic impulse which results in a 1 or a 0, but that we are able to know Truth, and even more impressively, know error, and the difference between error and falsehood, which strongly suggests that our mode of understanding is different than that of flipping and recording 1's and 0's.

There is something within even you that is there, despite your inability to capture it, and of course beyond my ability to do so as well - the difference is that you take that as proof that it doesn't exist, and I take it as an indication that there is something there which I cannot fully grasp and transcends the boundaries of that within which I might attempt to do so.

Within the operations of our biological equivalents of flipping 1's and 0's, there is something present which we are and which extends beyond and transcends the boundaries which contain such circuits. What that is, and how it operates, I couldn't say, but I do know that equating it with iron filings lining up within a magnetic field, is as inappropriate as trying to compare a game of pong with Mozart's French Horn Concerto No. 4... whatever point you thought you were making, missed the one that was being made.

River,I have the same impression that Spore is far more Aurobindian than Darwinian in its concept of evolution. Apart from the player being a conscious creator, there is a relentless drive among fellow creatures toward greater capability physically and mentally, an urge to grow and develop.

It shall be interesting to see what effect this will have on those who grow up with it. Probably not so much in America, where the idea of divine guidance is more or less taken for granted. But perhaps here in Europe?

Speaking of “inversion” and recently of “inverted morality”, how about “inverted shame”?As in, people ashamed to look their age… to an extent have altered their looks to such an extent …well…in the movies I’ve forgotten what an aging woman looks like anymore. Nicole Kidman, the cast or Desperate Housewives, Burt Reynolds…have this strange, expression frozen on their faces. They look mean, frankly. And I don’t just mean Hollywood.

My grandmother looked her age. Her face had a feminine beauty that matched her life. Growing up with 14 siblings in the depression. Such a kind, radiating quality in her face, her eyes, that matched her spirit and accentuated true femininity. Femininity can’t mean “sexy.” I’m not sure it means it at all. I think it is a separate thing.

Some of the most beautiful faces I have known were neither youthful nor "sexy." But they were wise, kind, and softened by years and experience. But not old. Nope, there was a youthful sparkle in the eyes and a looking forward to what the day might bring.

"Just so, to deny the intrinsic spiritual truths that in-form the soul is like trying to play the sax without harmony, melody, chords, etc. But conversely, to only conform to these moral truths in a rigid, exterior way, without realizing and assimilating their inner meaning, can result in a superficially good and decent person, but still, something will be missing. That something is the true self."

This is so poignant to me. I’ve admired several friends and family members who live their lives and raise their children in a most pleasing Christian way, the absolute best of ‘good people’…..then they vote for liberal Democrats. This has caused me no small amount of sadness because I couldn’t “see” what I was missing.

At what point do Good Intentions turn into the cobblestones of the Road to Hell?

If my "sarcaustic" remarks did anything to inspire today's post, Bob, I am glad I presumed to make them. You have articulated the radical difference between "existentialist license" and "essentialist liberty" beautifully, making it much clearer in my own mind.Thanks!

Van,I think Dr Franadianshtein is putting us on. Did he say that when he sends video of that thing to “corporations” they think it’s CGI? I’ll bet it was more like “you’ve got to be kidding me” and then “don’t email us, we’ll email you.”

Actually it’s a perfect example of the absurdity that AI is shooting for. “Feel pain”. This thing feels as much pain as a tape recorder does when you press play.

Guess he doesn’t think much of his grandmother either that she would rather have that thing read to her instead of him. Let’s see I can spend 10,000 hours building a mannequin with creepy rubber backwards bending fingers natural voice and yes life like hair too can all be yours, or a half hour reading to her.

Van,"Aiko" means "love child" in Japanese. It sounds from the article as if he is missing a child more than a wife. I can certainly sympathize with that. The parental drive is not to be underestimated in humans, misguided as it often is.

"(in fact, you cannot have one without the other, for one must be free to discover truth, and truth is what sets one free; this is why the compulsory truth of political correctness, or of reductionistic Darwinism, is an intrinsic contradiction)."

I'd understand if one has never taken a writing course that this could make sense, but unfortunately you fail to actually connect 'political correctness' and 'reductionistic Darwinism' to the original idea in any way. How have you proven a 'compulsory truth' to be an 'intrinsic contradiction' by merely stating such?

Truth should be compelling on its own, and when it comes down to bashing on opposing ideas it makes me curious as to how compelled you are to seeking your own truth, when it seems you wouldn't hold open opinions of opposing truths. How exactly are you 'free' when you seem to have closed your mind to other ideas? You treat them as wrong, instead of unlikely. By acting so condescending, you are propagandizing your own compulsory truth, and you are guilty of the "free to be like me" mindset, which isn't free at all.

I'm not impressed by fanciful philosophical talk when the larger picture paints a hypocrite. It's like Monet painting a picture of a pile of dung. Amazing techniques, but it's still shit.

Ray,Me and my buddies were talking. We’ve had it. It’s been like 13 billion years and not one of us has sprung to life. What the hell?I’ve got two contracts for concertos by Christmas and I haven’t got a thing to wear. When can we expect some progress, man?Don’t make me come in there…

It’s funny you should mention those 13 billion years, MF. Why aren’t we knee deep in these robots by now? I mean, if they’re replacements for people, then why didn’t they get here before us? Musta rained or something…rusty fossils maybe.Well, gotta run. Have to check my pile of filings. I think I hear an employee popping up.Be right there!

Van - which strongly suggests that our mode of understanding is different than that of flipping and recording 1's and 0's... What that is, and how it operates, I couldn't say...

You're just quite definite on what can't work, I got it. Of course, your only proof is that 'it's obvious that it can't be that'.

Lots of things have been 'obvious' that just ain't so, though.

you take that as proof that it doesn't exist, and I take it as an indication that there is something there which I cannot fully grasp

Nope. I've also said that we don't fully understand things like consciousness yet. (Want me to break out the Google-fu?) You, however, go further and say that it's incomprehensible. And, as I've also said, I just don't see the point of going there.

Julie - One thing I'm sad about is the general abandonment of the word "pretty", and its replacement with "sexy". Beauty doesn't have to be sexually alluring... but sadly Orwell was right that language can shape thinking. :-<

"Truth should be compelling on its own..." (Anon) Yep, if it weren't for that pesky sin thing. Truth is aligned with holiness (I know, another pesky word). Truth seen through the eyes of holiness is where true freedom lives.

Remember, the entire passage says, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (Jn 8:31-31)

Heh - something we can agree on :) I think to most people, "pretty" has come to mean "very" or "mostly" - it's essentially divorced from its original meaning. But yes, increasingly our culture seems to view attractiveness/ beauty as equivalent to "sexiness" (hence all the cartoonishly proportioned people out there who think themselves "beautiful;" the added irony being that the perception of "sexiness" can vary quite strongly from one person to the next. Thus what one person might see as a gorgeously slim women with bountiful breasts might look to another like a toothpick with a couple baseballs stuck on. Often with a pair of overinflated fish lips plopped on top for that added flourish. Appreciation for proportion has flown right out the cultural window, alas). But beauty, or prettiness, doesn't have an age limit, nor a size limit. It has more to do with the character under the skin, though when you find a conjunction of the inner and outer the effect tends to be illuminating.

These days, if you call a girl "pretty" it seems the equivalent of saying she's "nice" - faint praise, liable to piss her off if she's shallow.

I used “sexy” because I carried the point to its logical conclusion. As in “sexy” is out to replace feminine women with sexy females or masculine females or… Anything but feminine women is ‘normal’ and encouraged and doing it by “inverse shame”.But it’s just a theory…

What About Bob?

Who spirals down the celestial firepole on wings of slack, seizes the wheel of the cosmic bus, and embarks upin a bewilderness adventure of higher nondoodling? Who, haloed be his gnome, loiters on the threshold of the transdimensional doorway, looking for handouts from Petey? Who, with his doppelgägster and testy snideprick, Cousin Dupree, wields the pliers and blowtorch of fine insultainment for the ridicure of assouls? Who is the gentleman loaffeur who yoinks the sword from the stoned philosopher and shoves it in the breadbasket of metaphysical ignorance and tenure? Whose New Testavus for the Restavus blows the locked doors of the empyrean off their rusty old hinges and sheds a beam of intense darkness on the world enigma? Who is the Biggest Fakir of the Vertical Church of God Knows What, channeling the roaring torrent of 〇 into the feeble stream of cyberspace? Who is the masked pandit who lobs the first water balloon out the motel window at the annual Raccoon convention? Who is your nonlocal partner in disorganized crimethink? Shut your mouth! But I'm talkin' about bʘb! Then we can dig it!

Goround ZerO:

Search and Ye Never Knows What Ye Might Find:

The Cosmic Area Rug:

The empty center is Beyond-Being. The circles are dimensions of Being. Your life is a path for the Spirit to pass from periphery to center. Thoughts and choices -- truth and virtue -- are the paving stones.

Only Error is Transmitted:

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Fuck You: War

Late last night, in search of light, I watched a ball of fire streak across the midnight sky. I watched it glow, then grow, then shrink, then sink into the silhouette of morning. As I watched it die, I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a lot in common with that light.’ That’s right. I’m alive with the fire of my life, which streaks across my span of time and is seen by those who lift their eyes in search of light to help them though the long, dark night. --Nilsson

We see that yesterday is our birthday, today is our life, and tomorrow we are gone. So we have just one day to learn all we need to know, and that day is today. --Petey